Docs/Sheets/Slides (ie, common to each)

How to Search For (and Add) Free Images Right Within Google Docs

If your document needs some imagery, you can insert free images from right within Google Docs. You don’t need to be out scouring the Internet every time you need an image. Instead, take advantage of the free tools right within the app to search for and insert images in your document in just a few easy steps.

In a Google Doc/Sheet/Slide, click on the Insert menu at the top of the screen, and scroll down to Image.

In the window that opens up, you’ll see all the usual options for inserting images from your Drive, from a URL, or from your computer. However, you should also see the Search option on the far right-hand side of the window. Click on that.

Here you will get a search bar. The results that are displayed will be labeled for commercial reuse with modifications, so you know that you can safely use these images. Search for the keyword(s) you’d like. The search pulls from Google, LIFE, and stock images.

Click on the image you want. Click Select, and it will insert into your document. From there, you’re free to adjust or resize it as required.

Google Docs

Google Docs has always been much more than just a cloud based text editor. Some of it’s best features are also some of its strangest. I often discover these obscure tools tucked away in Google Docs only to find myself pleasantly surprised when I end up using them everyday.

Whether you want to ensure you get credit for the doc you worked so hard on or if you are just trying to make it look a little prettier, there are many reasons why you may want to stray from the white canvas. Although Google doesn’t yet have an official watermark tool for Google Docs, I have found a cool workaround that allows you to create one yourself using any image you want!

Although the online capabilities of Google Drive are great for collaboration, they are not necessary at all times. Google Drive allows you to edit your Docs offline, both in Chrome and with the Drive desktop application. Once internet connection has returned, your changes will sync back online so nothing is lost.

Issue Commands When Voice Typing in Google Docs

In Google Docs, you don’t need to type to put words on a page—you can simply talk. But as any good employee knows, crafting an effective document takes a whole lot more than simply adding text. The process may involve bolding and italicizing, copying and pasting, inserting bullet points and tables, undoing and redoing formatting, and more.

Until now, it was tough to take these types of actions using only your voice. With this launch, we’re changing that. Starting today, you can simply pause, issue a command, pause again, and resume dictating. To see a list of all commands, check out this Help Center article or say “voice commands help” when you’re voice typing. Please note that Voice commands work in English only.

When it comes to editing a long document, any shortcut available is much welcomed to make you work faster. Locating your word count is easy, and there are two ways to do it.

Export Google Docs Files as EPUB Publications

EPUB is the most widely supported file format for publishing accessible documents and digital books, allowing people to consume long-form content in their preferred apps on a diverse range of screen sizes and devices, including smartphones, tablets, and eReaders. To make it easier for authors, publishers, and academic institutions to create works that can be consumed digitally, today we’re launching the ability to export Google Docs files as EPUB publications. Simply go to the File menu > Download as > EPUB Publication (.epub).

Like it or not, a lot of the documents you make in Google Drive are pretty similar. But why are you starting from scratch each time you create a new one? Templates allow you to get a head start on your next creation. You can even add your branding (logos) and share them with coworkers to promote a more unified look. Whether it is meeting notes or a proposal, you can save a ton of time by turning them into reusable templates.

If you've ever tried to make a worksheet for form in Google Docs, you've probably created lines for people to enter their information on. But when people fill it out, it leaves information floating between underscores ( _ ). Here's how to create fillable text boxes in Docs so that people can neatly and easily enter their information.

Adding a Table of Contents to a Google Doc

Watch a quick demo video to see how, by changing specific text to "headlines" and then inserting a TOC, links are automatically created to your headlines.

Extracting text from a PDF or image in Google Drive

If you're wanting to convert an image into text, Google Docs has a powerful Optical Recognition feature build right in. Here's how to make it work.

Google Sheets

Over the years, Sheets has done a lot of catching up and is now a valid alternative to using Excel, with much of the same functionality and more intuitive security and collaboration features. Mastering these skills and feeling comfortable navigating and manipulating sheets can drastically improve the overall efficiency of your business and your workday.

Pivot tables help summarize and analyze large datasets by displaying the information in more digestible formats. They make it much easier to take out small pieces of data and conclusions from a large set of information.

Spreadsheet functions aren’t just for accountants and financial analysts. We don’t often find ourselves calculating annual revenue growth or building discounted cash flow models, but we can use spreadsheet functions often throughout the day. The functions here use are what can be called “everyday formulas”, because they are quick ways to solve problems that we face on a daily basis.

Sometimes you want to share one tab of a spreadsheet while keeping the other tabs private. Protecting the cells prevents collaborators from editing particular tabs but they can still view the contents, so it is not a valid solution. The ImportRange function in Google Sheets allows you to create a dynamic copy of particular tables in a spreadsheet that you can share through another spreadsheet without worrying about collaborators viewing information in the other tabs.

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could create a table of contents that would link you to the specific tab you needed info from? Tables of contents are usually associated with books or large documents but they can also be implemented in Sheets to make finding info much quicker. Although this is not a Google feature, with this workaround you can add a table of contents to all your multi-page spreadsheets.

Pasting in Google Sheets can become especially difficult when you want to paste a list or text that you want to separate into different cells. The former solution to separating text was with a script, but Google lets you can easily convert text to columns in Sheets with new paste formatting options.

Remove Duplicates from your Sheet

The "Unique" function allows you to remove duplicate items from a single row, or several rows. This is a great tool for de-duplicating a list of contacts, email addresses, and many other types of lists. The rows returned by this function are according to the order in which they first appear in the source array.

1.) Select the cell where you would like the de-duplicated info to begin

2.) Enter the function =UNIQUE(

3.) Select the cells you would like to pull data from

4.) Close the parentheses. Your function should look something like this:

Fitting your text in your cells is a common challenge in a spreadsheet. There are easy fixes like adjusting the size of your columns or rows, but sometimes those adjustments can alter your spreadsheet view and the best option is to make you text fit is to rotate it.

Applying some color to alternating rows in a spreadsheet can make it easier to read. Instead of manually changing background color of columns or rows, here's how to use conditional formatting to automatically create a colorful and attractive spreadsheet in Google Sheets.

When a collaborator submits a new entry, using Data Validation, make that value an option on all the drop down menus in the Sheet, without any manual updating. Also, by using the UNIQUE function, we can create dropdown menus that are automatically updated based on users are entering. That way we can choose items based on previous entries or add a new item that will automatically update our list.

Boost your Productivity in Google Sheets

Watch this brief video (less than 6 minutes) which quickly covers 5 categories of great tips to help you work on your Google Sheet way more effectively:

Pop up a list of keyboard shortcuts and then how to use the most helpful ones